Every mother wants to know if her baby is sleeping enough. Sleep-savvy moms not only want to know if their babies are getting enough hours of sleep, they want to make sure their babies have healthy sleep patterns that allow them to recover physically and emotionally, and to thrive and grow properly.

Mark Weissbluth identifies 5 elements of healthy sleep, which has the maximum restorative effect for a child. Read to the end and compare your baby’s sleep with these points - now you know how good your baby’s sleep is.

Total sleep duration (day+night)

Up to 3-4 months, a baby’s sleep indicates the development of his brain and most often the child sleeps as much as he needs, because his sleep is influenced by biological factors. At the same time, the baby can sleep in almost any conditions, even in noise and light, which means that the child can be with you all the time and, no matter where you are, if he needs sleep, he will fall asleep. Evening bedtimes at this age can be at different times, which is often due to colic, which manifests itself especially strongly in the period from 18 to 24 hours. Babies sleep on average 16-17 hours a day, often confusing day and night.

After 4 months, parents already formulate the child’s sleep and wakefulness schedule and can influence its duration. One of mom and dad's most important goals should be to ensure that their growing baby gets the healthy sleep he needs.

Of course, periodically skipping, for example, a nap or going to bed later, may not harm the child, but if this has become a habit, the baby may become increasingly capricious and uncontrollable in his overtiredness.

Studies have shown that sleep standards are not affected by cultural and ethnic differences, social variables, even various modern inventions, including television, computers, etc. Sleep norms are typical for each age of the child and are fixed biologically.

Availability of naps

Daytime sleep is significantly different from nighttime sleep and has rhythms independent of it. At the same time, daytime sleep leads to optimal daytime activity for learning, does not allow the child to become overtired, which means the baby will sleep better at night.

The main function of daytime sleep is to provide children with maximum REM sleep, that is, to restore them emotionally and psychologically, while night sleep to a greater extent restores physical strength.

It is very important to choose the right time of day at which the baby sleeps. After a healthy day's sleep, the child wakes up rested, and the level of cortisol in his blood drops. Sleep that is too short or not synchronized with the baby’s biological rhythms will not provide adequate rest, but, nevertheless, at least a short daytime nap is better than no sleep at all. After 4 months, a daytime nap that lasts less than one hour cannot be “real” and most often does not bring any benefit to the baby.

Children can and should be taught proper daytime sleep. If a child does not sleep well during the day, then he has a lower concentration of attention, they are less persistent in completing tasks, have difficulty adapting to new things, and are prone to hyperactivity.

If your baby doesn't sleep well during the day and you ignore early bedtime, then he suffers.

Sleep continuity

Consolidated or continuous sleep is one of the important conditions for healthy sleep, that is, 11 hours of continuous sleep is not at all equal to 11 hours of sleep if the baby woke up. Fragmentation of sleep reduces its total duration and reduces the effectiveness of the restoration of physical and emotional strength in children.

In the first months of life, children experience protective awakenings that help prevent asphyxia during sleep, but if such awakenings continue, they harm the child because they disrupt the integrity and continuity of sleep.

Sometimes parents themselves make the baby’s sleep unconsolidated if the baby constantly sleeps in a stroller while moving, or when rocked in his arms, sleeps in a moving car. Such sleep is not deep, short and is not able to restore the baby’s body. The best sleep is to sleep in one place, and motionless.

A certain number of awakenings may be normal if the baby can then fall asleep on his own, and also if the baby sleeps next to the mother and breastfeeds repeatedly, in which case both mother and baby do not wake up completely and do not suffer from fragmentation.

The main problem in waking up children can be called the child’s inability to fall asleep on his own after waking up.

How to help your child sleep through the night: https://bit.ly/1lMDs4X

Sleep mode

When we eat fast food, it fills us up, but it doesn’t add health. The same can be said about sleep. A low-quality sleep schedule ultimately gives us a tired and overtired child, because sleep is like food for his brain. Sleep and wakefulness should be as synchronized as possible with the baby’s biological rhythms.

Up to six weeks, children sleep a lot and often, mothers are satisfied and happy, but then time passes and it is no longer so easy to put the baby to bed. And here, without a doubt, it is the regime that will help us. To teach a four- to eight-month-old child a healthy and biologically correct sleep schedule, parents should control bedtime themselves, without relying on the fact that a tired child will go to bed on his own. When talking about the regime, it is worth specifying the time:

8:30-9:00 - first sleep time for babies up to 6 months;

12:30-13:00 - lunchtime nap (this time is perfect for all children who still sleep during the day);

18:00-20:00 is the best time to go to bed at night.

When organizing a child's sleep schedule, many parents make the mistake of always putting their baby to bed at the same time. However, the best option for your child is if you are flexible. If he didn't sleep well during the day or played too actively and was tired, then shift his bedtime to an earlier time. At each age, babies have their own acceptable time of wakefulness; knowing this moment greatly facilitates the process of going to bed.

Rituals play an important role in observing the regime, because it is through them that the baby understands what awaits him now. So don't forget to repeat the same steps every night before your baby goes to bed. For example: quiet and calm games, bathing, massage, bottle, book in bed and finally sleep.

More than half of mothers complain about sleep problems in their child. About 25% of them suffer from clinical depression. Statistics say that up to ⅓ of divorces in families occur in the first years after the birth of the first child. Most often due to problems with their child’s sleep.

Because many families find it difficult to properly organize proper rest for their child and parenthood turns into torture. After all, a child's sleep is often unpredictable - you don't know what to expect every night. The baby may have difficulty sleeping during the day, protest before going to bed, wake up too often at night and get up before 6 am. Parents are left wondering why this happens - there can be many reasons.

Let's figure out all the nuances of children's sleep together and start correcting the situation today!

About the benefits of healthy sleep

Why is it so important that your child sleeps and gets enough sleep? Is there cause for concern if your child is not getting enough sleep? Healthy sleep for babies is the same basic need for them as nutrition.

Lack of sleep negatively affects various systems of a child’s body:

• With a lack of sleep, mental abilities decrease. Children who get enough sleep and sleep without waking learn better, remember new information easily, are more creative and are able to maintain attention longer.
• Babies really do grow in their sleep. Doctors believe that a child who gets enough sleep has good physical development and a strong nervous system.
• During sleep, the immune system releases proteins that fight disease. With a lack of sleep, the production of these proteins is reduced, the immune system weakens and the baby gets sick more often.
• Lack of sleep in children is directly related to their behavior and condition. If a child has problems with sleep, it is difficult to control his emotions - he is often capricious, and his mood is very changeable.
• If the child does not sleep, neither do the parents. With sleep deprivation for a long time, immunity decreases, problems arise with concentration and control of emotions.

As you can see, good sleep is the basis for the healthy development of children in the first years of life.

How to ensure your child sleeps soundly?

1. A child needs to sleep a certain number of hours a day. So, a baby needs about 18-20 hours of sleep per day, and a grown-up child already needs about 14 hours of rest day and night. Focus on the table norms - they will let you understand how to adjust the regimen taking into account the age and individual characteristics of the baby.

2. Children are easily overtired and difficult to calm down if they are overstimulated. What we often forget. The younger the child, the less time he can stay awake without accumulating fatigue.

Prolonged time without sleep leads to a rapid accumulation of cortisol. With an excess of this hormone, the child has difficulty falling asleep, and sleep becomes restless and sensitive.

In this case, it is important to watch for signs of tiredness in your child and spend the last hour before bed in quiet games that will slow him down. Working with fine motor skills will help here: (deleting the word will do) playing with different fabrics, sorting through cereals or beads (under the supervision of an adult), modeling, finger painting. Don't forget about the bedtime ritual, which sets the mood for rest and helps the baby relax.

3. Children react strongly to external stimuli, especially light and noise. Therefore, it is important to create suitable conditions for rest, starting from birth.

If it is light in the nursery, it will be difficult for the child to fall asleep. Here's why: the hormone melatonin, which affects how we sleep, is produced only in the dark. However, it is easily destroyed under the influence of light, especially the blue spectrum. If the baby sleeps in the light day and night, this greatly reduces the quality of his sleep and the production of melatonin decreases. If the light hits the baby, it passes through the fontanelle directly to the brain and destroys the already accumulated melatonin. Therefore, it is important to keep the room dark even in the morning.

Also, in the light, the child will be distracted by the objects around him, and not tune in to rest.

How to create the right atmosphere:

• Darken the room with dark curtains and make sure there is no light coming from electrical appliances.
• Is it worth creating silence? The best option would be to use white noise, which will drown out extraneous household sounds when the child is sleeping. White noise is not addictive and is a positive association for falling asleep.

4. The biological rhythms of children work differently than those of adults. For children, it is physiological to go to bed at night between 18.00 and 20.00 and get up no later than 7 am. This mode allows the baby to get the necessary amount of quality night sleep, since the first half of the night sleep occurs mainly in the deep phase. During this period, active restoration of the body occurs. Early placement is possible from 4 months until school age.

5. It is easier for a child to live according to a schedule. Following a daily routine gives your baby a sense of predictability and clarity throughout the day. It is easier to put a routine child to bed, since his internal clock is set to sleep at a certain time. You also shouldn't skip naps in hopes that your baby will sleep better at night. In the absence of daytime rest, the baby will have a harder time going into the night and will sleep restlessly due to overwork.

6. Getting up at night is the norm. In the first months of life, frequent awakenings of a newborn baby are due to physiology.

But as they grow older, sleep becomes more consolidated and by the age of one year the child is already able to sleep all night without waking up. More precisely, the child will wake up between sleep cycles, but will fall back asleep after a couple of minutes. Provided that he knows how to do it on his own. Babies who do not have this basic skill (and it is acquired, like the ability to attach to the breast, chew and walk) need outside help to prolong sleep. These “helpers” are motion sickness, breasts, bottles, pacifiers, and mother’s presence nearby.

If you, in an attempt to get away from motion sickness, constant feedings and pacifiers, stop using this method of calming your child without giving him an alternative, your attempts will not be successful. Because there is no replacement. The best solution would be to teach your child to fall asleep independently using one of the methods.

7. Positive sleep associations make it easier to fall asleep. Turning on white noise, using a favorite toy, sleeping in a sleeping bag, and having a bedtime and wake-up ritual can help when working on your child's sleep.

8. The child must have a permanent sleeping place. It's best if it's a crib. There should be nothing in it except a thick mattress with a sheet with an elastic band. A baby does not need a pillow and a blanket in the first year of life - it is better to use a children's sleeping bag. The soft toy can be placed in the crib after six months.

9. The mother’s condition is easily transmitted to the child. If you help your baby calm down, calm down yourself. Children easily read our emotions with the help of mirror neurons, which actively work in them in the first years of life.

Therefore, during the styling process, be relaxed yourself if you want to make the process easy and enjoyable for both of you.

Include cuddles in your pre-bed ritual. By hugging your baby, you stimulate his peripheral nervous system and calm him down.

Check the table to ensure that you are using sleep aids and avoiding sleep disrupters:

What kind of sleep does your child have? Tell us in the comments and ask your questions!

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Anna Gennadievna Dubinina, head of the pediatric department, pediatrician at the Asteri-Med Multidisciplinary Medical Center, Moscow

Healthy, adequate sleep is necessary for every child to restore strength and harmonious development. However, not every child sleeps well. If problems with falling asleep are not associated with the baby’s illness, you should pay attention to the factors that contribute to a healthy night’s sleep for the baby. They will help restore a good night's rest for the baby and make life much easier for his parents. So, what should parents remember?

Daily routine is important! In the human body, everything happens cyclically, including periods of sleep and wakefulness. In order for the entire body to work harmoniously, it is advisable not to shift the time of such cycles. Almost from the first days of a baby’s life, it is worth deciding on his sleep and wakefulness patterns. At the same time, it is worth listening to the needs of the baby, but, if possible, carefully bringing them closer to the rules of life in the family. If, for example, parents are used to going to bed around midnight, there is no point in trying to rock the baby to sleep at 20:00, so that they can tiptoe around the house for the rest of the time, and be woken up early in the morning by a well-slept baby.

A place to sleep. Pediatricians recommend putting the baby in a crib in the parent's bedroom from birth to one year - in this case, you won't have to go to another room to feed the baby at night. But sleeping in the same bed with parents is undesirable - it is better to purchase an additional crib in which the baby will sleep separately, but at the same time next to the mother.

Daytime sleep. A newborn baby sleeps up to 20 hours a day, a one-year-old child - about 14 hours, this time also includes daytime sleep. In order for the baby to sleep well at night, daytime sleep should not be long and sound. There is no need to wake up the baby; it is enough not to create excessive comfort for sleep during the day. Let the crib be well lit, and let the household continue to do their business. Thus, the depth of daytime sleep will be less, and the child will fall asleep well at night.

Swimming before bed. Warm water relaxes muscles, relieves stress, helps you calm down and set yourself up for a healthy, sound sleep. Playing in the water is a great way to burn off excess energy, which will also help you fall asleep. You can add Weleda bathing product with calendula and medicinal herbs to the water - it will not only gently cleanse the baby’s skin, but will also help him tune in to a restful sleep, and the herbal extracts included in the product will speed up the healing of the umbilical wound. Daily bathing is a wonderful family ritual that strengthens the baby’s contact with his parents.

Feeding at night. The baby's stomach is small in volume, and mother's milk is an easily digestible food. Quite quickly the stomach becomes empty and the baby asks for a new portion of food. Night is no exception, so in the first months of a baby’s life, feeding at night is justified and necessary. By six months this need gradually subsides. If your baby continues to wake up at night, demanding feeding, you should consult your pediatrician - perhaps you need to optimize his diet and breastfeeding schedule.

Busy day - good night. In order for your child to sleep well at night, it is worthwhile to spend an interesting and eventful day. Games, walks, many new experiences during the day are the best way to ensure that a tired baby falls asleep peacefully in the evening. But at the same time, it is important to remember that two hours before bedtime, active games should be excluded: the nervous system of a small child is still immature and has difficulty “switching” from active wakefulness to sleep. In the evening, it is better to read a book to your baby, play an audio story, and play calm games with him.

Sleeping conditions should be as comfortable as possible. The air in the bedroom is fresh and cool (temperature no higher than 18C), the bed is comfortable, including a fairly thick mattress and a moderately warm blanket. Bed linen should be made from natural materials, without rough seams or scars. A child under one year old does not need a pillow at all.

Diaper. A baby under one year old cannot control urination, so it is inevitable at night. And naturally, the baby will sleep better in a dry disposable diaper than in wet diapers. But if the mother is ready to change the linen in the crib 1-2 times a night, and the baby quickly and easily falls asleep after changing clothes, you can try to do without modern hygiene products.

Conditions that help a baby fall asleep are simple and accessible to every family. May your baby's days be joyful and full of new experiences, and may his nights be calm!

One of the most important components of a child’s life, along with food, water, and air, is healthy sleep. This is a source of energy, strength, and complete rest. Sleep has another function. It helps to calmly process the entire mass of information that the baby receives during the day. Adequate sleep is the key to health, comfort, and well-being.

Included in the sections: Child development Child health

Child's sleep norm

Tables of sleep norms for children depending on age:

Five rules for arranging a children's room

Child's sleep disturbance

Sleep is the basis for the health and proper development of a child. While the baby is sleeping, his body is recovering from everything that happened during the day. However, if he sleeps poorly, the process of exhaustion of the nervous system begins, irritability and tearfulness appear, which has a very bad effect on the life and mood of the whole family.

Sleep regression is a normal phenomenon and is associated with the restructuring of cycles. Side effects include frequent waking up at night and overall poor sleep quality. This period falls between 3 and 5 months of life. Usually the regime is restored after a few weeks, the sleep structure is fixed on a clear schedule. If the child is sensitive and very attached to his mother, the “sleepy” jump will appear very noticeably in him.

Regression duration
The baby sleeps poorly periodically: first at 14-17 weeks, then at six months, then between 8 and 10 months, then at one and a half and two years. This process predominates in the next weeks of life - 5, 8, 12, 19, 26, 37, 46 and 55. The duration is most often two weeks, but the crisis can drag on for a month and a half.

How to put your baby to sleep

Newborn babies sleep a lot, not only at night, but also during the day several times a day. As a rule, up to a month the baby falls asleep after each feeding. With this regime, when going to bed at night, you need to observe certain nuances so that the baby feels that the main period of rest has arrived.

✓

As the baby grows, rocking him becomes more and more difficult. The baby needs to be taught to fall asleep on his own. To get out of the habit of motion sickness, you need to organize a gradual transition to other sleepy procedures. It’s worth starting with a night’s sleep, when the child’s body is most inclined to rest.

✓

Newborn babies fall asleep immediately after breastfeeding, and this is normal. By the age of one year, pediatricians recommend gradually separating sleep and food. Nighttime sleep should not depend on feeding, so you need to wean off breastfeeding at night. Pediatricians believe that a baby’s nighttime sleep should not be associated with feeding.
After the baby reaches about 9 months, he becomes more active, gets up, walks and also wakes up at night. How to wean off night feeding at this turbulent age?

✓

At one year old, the baby may no longer wake up at night, but only if he is healthy, spent the day active, and the evening was calm and the baby ate well. In order for your child to go to bed without any problems and rest all night, it is important to accustom him to a certain procedure.

✓

Children at this age are very active, and the psycho-emotional development of children leads to the emergence of many new impressions, including fears and reluctance to part with their mother even for the night. At this age, the child needs communication with his family; it is difficult for him to be alone in the evening.

✓

Once children reach the age of three, getting them into bed becomes more difficult, especially at the classic time of 9 p.m. If a child goes to bed late and attends kindergarten, you should not be fooled by the child’s reluctance to fall asleep, as in the morning he will be sleepy and tired.

Sleep safety

The issue of children's sleep safety remains one of the most pressing among mothers and fathers in our country. However, many parents still prefer to simply distance themselves from this painful topic. Why is it necessary to intimidate yourself with “horror films”? This formulation of the question is fundamentally incorrect. Indeed, in our case, we are not talking about mythical “horror stories” at all, but about a very real threat: the cause of approximately 90% of accidents is potentially dangerous behavior.

According to experts, one of the likely causes of SIDS is a weakening of the child’s brain control over the functioning of the respiratory organs, body temperature and heartbeat. A significant percentage of accidents occur in cases of difficulty in the baby’s respiratory system due to pressure from an adult’s body or various objects.

SIDS is the most common cause of death in young children. So, in America, out of a thousand cases, one is talking about a dangerous Syndrome.

Some statistics:

• Boys die from SIDS 50% more often than girls;
• In 90% of cases, death occurs in babies who are not yet six months old (in most cases these are babies 2-4 months old). SIDS always occurs during the baby's night or daytime sleep.

Provoking factors can be divided into:

• Uncontrollable. This list includes insufficient maturity of the baby’s brain, other certain health problems, prematurity of the baby;

Managed. Smoking before and after the birth of the baby, unsafe conditions for night and day rest, feeding with formula rather than breast milk, and incorrect position of the baby’s body when sleeping (typical for children under six months old) can increase the risk of the occurrence of the Syndrome.
Important! We have now listed the provoking factors, none of which can lead to the death of a child with 100% probability.

The sleep process and its benefits

1. Brain growth and development

   
   Mothers know how long a newborn's sleep can be. Most babies sleep most of the day, waking up only to eat and briefly - about an hour - to communicate with their mother. Babies exist in this mode for the first 4–6 months of their lives.
   Not only the duration of children's sleep is exceptional, but also its structure. The duration of the period, which scientists call “REM sleep,” is 2 times longer in newborns than in older children and adults. And this is no coincidence.
   REM sleep is the time when dream images are formed in the cerebral cortex. With their help, new neural connections are formed. So it turns out that a newborn sleeps most of the day in order for his brain to grow and develop.

2. Energy recharging

   
   The main task of sleep is to restore energy. This is important at any age. Prolonged deep sleep “recharges” the body and brings a feeling of vigor. This is the so-called anabolic - accumulative - function of sleep.
   It is extremely important that the baby sleeps a lot until he is six months old and his sleep is deep, without frequent awakenings. During such rest, blood flows to the muscles, preparing them for future physical activity.
   If a newborn does not get enough sleep, he becomes capricious and constantly asks to be held. Children of the same age who sleep well will be more active due to full recuperation. Their physical activity will manifest itself in attempts to roll over, sit, and then crawl.

3. Development of memory and attention

   
   Somnologists explain the importance of sleep by the fact that it allows a person to systematize acquired knowledge about the world around him. A growing and actively developing baby cannot do without this.
   The process of systematization is based on different functions of the brain: attention, memory, ability to synthesize, etc. Sleep is a kind of catalyst and the main condition for the normal course of all this complex activity. It helps the baby process and organize the ideas received about the world around him.
   No matter how hard the mother tries and takes the child to all kinds of developmental courses, if he doesn’t get enough sleep, they are of no use. It has been practically proven: children begin to do better in school if they only add 1-2 hours of sleep per day. Lack of sleep provokes not only a lag in the general education school curriculum. It is also directly related to such a common diagnosis as ADHD. In the full version - attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

4. Body growth

   An adult needs sleep mainly to restore the energy spent during the day. For a child - for active growth. In the first 2 hours of sleep, the pituitary gland produces 80% of the growth hormone somatropin. If a child does not get enough sleep, then he will probably lag behind in physical development.
   Concerned about the lack of growth and physical weakness of their children, parents begin to look for the cause in some non-existent diseases. Pediatricians advise starting with the proper organization of children's daily routine. You need to put your baby to bed long before midnight, then he will get a good night's sleep and receive enough growth hormone.

5. Mental restoration

   Throughout the day, the baby receives a huge amount of varied information. His brain is “attacked” by visual, auditory and tactile images. Trying to give their child the maximum, modern parents actively use various kinds of stimulants, educational games, and developmental games.
   This flow of information seriously loads the brain and creates psycho-emotional stress. Sleep allows you to overcome this stress. It helps to organize the data received throughout the day and eliminate negative reactions. If your baby does not get enough sleep regularly, he will be nervous and moody from overload.
   Many mothers notice: as soon as the child began to sleep well, his behavior changed. The baby calmed down and even began to smile more often. This once again confirms that sleep for babies is a unique natural source of psychological health.

6. Strengthening the immune system

   
   Included in the sections: Child development Child health

   According to the results of studies conducted in the USA, a person who does not get enough sleep has a weaker immune system. It has 30% less than normal cells that eliminate viruses and bacteria. This is due to another important function of sleep, which can be called recharging the immune system.
   While a person is sleeping, his immunity is most active. This is why sick people feel sleepy all the time. While they rest, the process of self-healing occurs.
   Some children cannot fall asleep independently in their crib due to pain. Parents should create all conditions so that their sick baby gets enough sleep. If necessary, rock and lull. The initial difficult period will soon pass, and the baby will fall asleep without outside help. During this time, his immunity will do everything possible to ensure that the disease recedes.

7. Always in a good mood

   A good night's sleep sets a good mood for the whole day. Even adults become gloomy and unfriendly if they do not get enough sleep. If this happens to a small child, it will not be good for everyone in the household.
   Lack of sleep affects babies in different ways. Some children are only a little capricious, cry, and then gradually return to more or less normal mode. Others react violently, “do not hear” their parents’ comments, and in some cases even become uncontrollable. If parents ignore the problem, they will eventually have to deal with a “difficult” child.

8. Concentration and control of your body

   Even an adult in a state of lack of sleep cannot perform high-quality actions that require concentration. Such as, for example, driving a car. There is a high probability of falling asleep at the wheel and getting into an accident. Children, without enough sleep, stumble over corners, fall down stairs and generally have poor coordination of their actions.
   The period of infancy is the time of physical exploration of space. You can't do without falls and bruises. Parents can help in this difficult matter if they make sure that the baby gets enough sleep. You should not allow yourself to become overtired. If you comply with sleep standards, the process of comprehending the world around you will be easier and more painless.

9. Prevention of overeating

   Lack of sleep can also cause weight problems. The body compensates for the lack of rest by consuming extra calories. The less a person sleeps, the more he eats. This rule applies to both infants and schoolchildren and their parents.
   Many adults have probably noticed that in the evening the refrigerator beckons. This is explained by the fact that the body has spent a lot of energy during the day and now seeks to replenish it. American nutritional scientists have noticed one pattern: as soon as children reduce their sleep time, they begin to consume more high-calorie foods.
   Lack of sleep reduces the production of a hormone that controls the feeling of fullness. The signal from the stomach reaches the brain more slowly. As a result, a person eats more than what he really needs. Regular overeating is a direct road to obesity. To prevent it, parents need to ensure that their children get enough sleep.

10. Maternal depression

    The first months of a baby’s life and the night feedings associated with them greatly deplete the mother’s nervous system. A baby's restless sleep makes a woman's emotional state unstable. This often leads to depression. There is also an inverse relationship: permanent stress in the mother has a bad effect on the baby’s psyche.
    People usually call depression a periodic bad mood. But true depression is a serious illness that requires treatment. It often appears in women who do not get enough sleep in the first 3 years of a baby’s life. According to statistics, almost 50% of such mothers require serious drug treatment.
    Prevention of postpartum depression - regular and adequate sleep. Spouses and other relatives can help by taking on some of the baby's care responsibilities. In general, everyone needs healthy sleep. It helps you to be strong, healthy and to endure any troubles.

Healthy sleep for a child is very important. He is like food, water and air. A child's healthy sleep is a source of energy, strength, and relaxation. With the help of sleep, all the information received by the baby during the day is processed. Healthy sleep is the key to well-being, health and comfort.

The organization of sleep in children must be approached responsibly and thoughtfully. From childhood, you need to teach your children to have a daily routine, time management, and proper sleep. Sleep is very closely related to other components of life: hygiene, clothing, nutrition, walks in the fresh air and others. And who else but parents can control and teach their child to sleep healthy.

Need for sleep depends on age. Newborns sleep about 20 hours a day, children 2 to 4 years old need about 16 hours, 4-5 year olds should get 13 hours of sleep, 6-7 year olds should get 12 hours of sleep, and teenagers need 9 hours of sleep.

Of course, first of all, parents themselves must be convinced of the importance and necessity of sleep for the development of their heirs. Now everyone knows that you need to go to bed at the same time, preferably a couple of hours before midnight. Walks and quiet conversations are helpful at night.

The ritual of getting ready for bed is also important, helping to fall asleep quickly and get the maximum benefit from a night's rest for health and study. All these correct words, however, help little and our children stay up late at night playing computer games and communicating on social networks.

The parents themselves are largely to blame for this. They didn’t show persistence and didn’t form a habit. They themselves do not set the proper example.

Whatever the rhythm of our lives, no matter how busy and exhausted we are, it is necessary to think about the future of our children. Feed, teach, educate - this is important. But teaching a child to live, alternating activity and rest in reasonable proportions is no less important.

Rules for healthy sleep in children

In order for your child to have healthy and beneficial sleep, you need to adhere to the basic rules.

• Fresh air and ventilated room.

The air in the child's room should not be humidified or stuffy. Leading children's pediatricians advise setting the room temperature at +18 degrees. At this temperature it is very easy to breathe, sleep is restful, and in the morning the baby will feel good. As the long-term practice of specialists shows, at this temperature the baby does not open. If you are worried that your child will freeze, then use warm and soft pajamas. Try to pay attention to air humidity. If it is not possible to purchase a special humidifier, then place a couple of containers of water by the crib or near the radiator.

• Comfortable bed.

A bed is the basis for a child’s healthy sleep. It is better to purchase a bed with an orthopedic mattress. Its advantages: strength, rigidity, maintaining the child’s position. Up to 3 years, instead of a standard pillow, it is better to use a towel or a very thin pillow. A child’s blanket should be light, natural, without impregnations or dyes. If there are ruffles or canopies on the bed linen or crib, then, oddly enough, these are real dust collectors. And dust blocks the flow of fresh air.

• Lighting.

The children's room should be well lit. Because the child plays and studies here. But many children do not like to fall asleep in pitch darkness, so experts advise installing lamps around the perimeter of the room. The lamps will create a soft light, which will help the child fall asleep easily. Pay attention to the curtains in the children's room. When a child is getting ready for bed during the day, they can be used to create twilight. Do not forget about the cleanliness of the curtains; they should not accumulate a lot of dust; wash them periodically.

• Ritual before bed.

Do the same steps every time before going to bed. Doing the same thing every time will be like a ritual for the baby. He will know that first he needs to swim, then read a book and fall asleep. Instead of a book, you can use a lullaby or play slow instrumental music. After the child falls asleep, the music should be turned off. Keep the house quiet: don't talk loudly, don't play loud music. Protect your baby's sleep.

• Active day.

Spend more time outdoors, play active games. The day should be spent fun and positively. Try to avoid tantrums and crying. Set your baby in a good mood.

You need to go to bed at the same time. Before going to bed, it is advisable not to play active games, run or jump.

It is advisable that the child sleeps only in his own crib, and not with his parents. You can choose one of your favorite toys and let your baby fall asleep with it. This will replace his mother. He will also associate this toy with sleep.

Be sure to kiss your baby before going to bed and say good night.

If you follow these rules systematically, your baby’s sleep will stabilize. The baby will get used to the routine and fall asleep easily. Sleep will have a beneficial effect on the baby’s health, mood and behavior.

The main thing is to be there and support!

How to convince your child to go to bed on time.

What arguments can be made to convince your child to take nighttime rest seriously and not disrupt this important physiological process for the sake of immediate pleasure?

For a girl, a girl can focus on the desire to look good. It’s worth delicately complaining that today she looks a little worse than when she’s had enough sleep. And the skin is paler, and there are bags under the eyes, and the eyes are not as shiny as they could be. This usually makes an impression. It is important not to overdo it with criticism. A little bit of everything and very unobtrusively.

A teenager and young man will have to be creative in search of arguments. This is where playing on ambition comes to the rescue. If it’s important for a guy to win the competition with his intellect among his peers, then catch him making some mistake, a slip of the tongue, and notice that lack of sleep affects the sharpness of his thoughts.

If a guy plays sports, then the emphasis should be on the loss of physical strength, loss of dexterity, comparing with those days when sleep takes its rightful place in the daily routine. Emphasize that the result could be much more significant. Naturally, not harshly or rudely. In passing, as if in passing.

How to convince parents of the benefits of sleep for children.

This task is much more difficult. Just think, I didn’t get enough sleep today, I didn’t get enough sleep tomorrow. And now there is irritability, fatigue, and my health is noticeably failing. But youth is characterized by frivolity. Force yourself to think beyond today.

Parents must learn once and for all that proper sleep for their children (at least 8 hours) and at the same time every time is the key to ensuring that your child grows up healthy not only physically, but also psychologically.

Children in whose families His Majesty’s “daily routine” occupies a dominant place are less susceptible to depression, balanced and able to withstand the challenges that they will certainly encounter in life.

They are able to cope with difficulties without resorting to addictions. They have less need to seek oblivion and dubious entertainment. They find a common language with their peers more easily without entering into conflicts.

They are at ease and joyful simply because the body has received its share of rest and is ready to actively and fully function, without looking for additional reserves, without straining.

If you want your children, now and in the future, to live full, happy lives, make sure that the habit of going to bed at the same time becomes second nature.

Forming the habit of proper and healthy sleep is not very difficult. All you need is an understanding of the importance and a little time.

Shcherbonosova Tatyana Anatolyevna - Head of the Department of Nervous Diseases, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry of the KGBOU DPO "Institute for Advanced Training of Health Care Specialists" of the Ministry of Health of the Khabarovsk Territory, Candidate of Medical Sciences

Gorbulina Svetlana Vladimirovna - Assistant of the Department of Nervous Diseases, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry of the KGBOU DPO "Institute for Advanced Training of Healthcare Specialists" of the Ministry of Health of the Khabarovsk Territory, neurologist of the KGBOU "Regional Clinical Hospital No. 1" named after. prof. S.I. Sergeeva Ministry of Health of the Khabarovsk Territory